Insist Nigeria won’t make progress unless restructured
Eminent nationalists in the country, yesterday, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to initiate the process of implementing the 2014 National Conference report, saying decisions reached at the conference enjoy the support of the majority of Nigerians.
They spoke at the reading and presentation of Brutally Frank, the autobiography of Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark at MUSON Centre, Lagos.
The nationalists, who were participants at the conference, insisted that implementation of the over 600 recommendations from the conference would enthrone true and competitive federalism that would ensure steady progress of the country.
According to them, the country would continue to run in circles in search for solutions to its challenges until political leaders find the courage to restructure it.
Some dignitaries at the event included former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi; Chairman/Publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru; Publisher of Vanguard newspapers, Chief Sam Amuka Pemu; former Minister of Industry, Nike Akande; former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Kofo Bucknor-Akerele; former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources/Minister of Foreign Affairs, Henry Odein Ajumogobia; former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro; former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; Prof. Pat Utomi, among others.
In his opening address, chairman of the occasion, Senator Anthony Adefuye, praised Clark for his contributions to nation building, noting that he was still working at 96 years of age.
“He is a man Nigeria will not forget very quickly. I want to say something that many of you should not forget. Chief Edwin Clark was the brain behind the 2014 national conference. He brought all Nigerians together so that we can be one. And we all sat down at that national conference and arrived at certain decisions. If those decisions had been adopted, Nigeria would not be where it is today,” he said.
Father of the Day, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who described Clark as a personality to behold, said: “The book is a compendium of what Nigeria was and what we wish it to be.”
He added: “I came closer to Clark at the 2014 national conference. We were in the same row of old people. You could see knowledge, experience and patriotism in the contribution of these old people. I want to advise those of you who are younger not to play with the report of the 2014 national conference.
Whether you like it or not, that conference will go down in history as the best thing former President Goodluck Jonathan did for this country. And I say it publicly again without any fear of contradiction that you can never again get the kind of composition that was recorded in that conference in Nigeria. It cuts across every segment of the country. And we were lucky to have a chairman who managed delicate issues effectively.
“The job for us in this country today is to insist that right now, the constitution of the country must be changed to a federal constitution, in accordance with the report of the 2014 National Conference. Take that report, take the El-Rufai Committee report, set up a committee to reconcile them and we go to where we are going. Any other thing is pretence. When you talk about the unity of this country, the economic progress of this country, until we change this constitution, we will go nowhere.”
In his goodwill message, Prof. Anya O. Anya, also harped on the need to implement the report of the 2014 conference, saying Nigeria would ultimately go back to it.
He said: “I came across Edwin Clark at the 2014 national conference and that was when I discovered that you cannot describe him in one or two sentences because the man is multi-dimensional. But one thing you cannot take away from him is the fact he loves this country.
“I am confident that one day, the report of the national conference will be fully implemented. And the reason is simple. There were over 600 decisions and every single one enjoyed the support of more than 70 per cent of those attending. Would you really think that it was possible to have Nigerians gathered as we were gathered and all decisions enjoyed 70 per cent support? You wouldn’t have thought it was possible but it happened. That is why I believe that ultimately, we will find our way back.”
Anya urged the younger generation of Nigerians not to lose confidence in the country, maintaining that Nigeria is a great country.
“Let me say this to the young generation. Do not lose confidence in Nigeria. Nigeria is a great country. Nigeria is a destined country. It will get to the point where, as some of my spiritual advisers tell me, Nigeria will be celebrated for righteousness. This period we are seeing now is not Nigeria. When I tell some of the younger people my experience in Nigeria, they don’t believe that the Nigeria that I was describing that I had lived in existed. But it existed and because it did exist, will return,” he noted.
In his remarks, Clark, who joined the event via Zoom, after appreciating the guests for honouring him, said he would always cherish a Nigeria where everybody is equal.
“We want a structuring of this country. Without restructuring, there can be no Nigeria. Everybody in Nigeria today believes that restructuring is all that we need. Even those who were hesitating have now realised that they will do better if they are in their own states with more powers, moving at their own pace,” he said.
Explaining how he came up with the title of the book, he noted: “When I was 90, one of the messages I received was from my boss, Yakubu Gowon. I was the Minister of Information in his government. In that congratulatory letter, Gowon said that I speak my mind on any subject and concluded that I am brutally frank. So, I took the title of my book from that message.”
Special Guest of honour at the event, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who was represented by former Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Denzil Kentebe, welcomed Clark to the literary arena, noting that he could not wait to read how he tackled some of the histories of the country.
“The Clark family and I, as you know, are linked on several levels, and it would have given me great pleasure to deputise for my late colleague and brother, JP Clark, in welcoming the patriarch himself on this belated entry into the literary ranks. Even without the ferocious promise of the title, I know that this will be one book launch the nation will not forget in a hurry. I cannot wait to read how he tackles some of the history of a society along whose fault lines we have occasionally interacted, directly and indirectly, but of course the nation has been treated to more than a rich foretaste in the past years. A warm welcome nonetheless, on your formal entry, dear Chief, Senator, and Elder Gadfly, to the literary arena,” he said.
Chairman of the Book Presentation Committee, Lagos, Prof. Hope Eghagha, extolled Clark for his contributions to nation building, adding that the book, Brutally Frank, is brutally frank about politics and governance in Nigeria. He urged those who are interested in getting the details of the issues discussed in the book to get a copy.
